Collapsible paper cup



Q, 1929- M. H. LOCKWOOD COLLAPSIBLE PAPER CUP Original Filed June 2, 1923 avwautoz Patented Dec. 16, 1929 M'ARQUIS: Bf. Lookwooi'); or new es' ie me' To NEW, RK, r I

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I, a amen; Oil N- Y Y OOLIJAPSIBL PAPER we Application fild' J1me 2,1923; Serial N6. 642',88.' Renewed April 3,1929.

known and areQsold and used in large ;q1 iantities, but this form otcup i's obj cti na er that, when filled and 1n useyifi, Cannot beset down, but must be held in; the hand or; otherwise supported. Various attempts have been maide toove'rcome this objectiom-by the construction of foldable paper cups, having square or rectangular bottoms and folded substantiallysimilar to a' paper bag, butthijs type of cup is-more or less; clumsy to -handle and 'does'notpresent? the-neat appearance of a' round cylindrical or fr'us toconical CUR-1,

The object of'myimprovement 1 s to;prov d e a zfoldingfor 'collapsible cup,- which when-distendechwill be capable of assuming 'a cyl ndrioal or frusto conieal shape, substantlally circular in cross-section f'rom the topto the bottom thereof; This is preferably aecomplislied by forming the Walls of the cupffrom a-single blank-of paper of suitable weight or thickness to give the ne'c 'es'sary rigidityto the body of the cup and attach-thereto a bottom of comparatively; thin flexible material so A shaped and folded as to completel sealthe bottom and collapsewith the walls of-the cup into-fiat form. V A;- fi'irtherobject is -to' so :lold the flex ble bottom that itmay be secured I to' the blank forming the-Walls 'of' the' cup while in colla-psdcondition', thereby} facll tating manufacturing the cups at low'*' cost; I It will be understood, however, that a flexiblebottom sori ed,-maybe seoure'd ?totheiwa-lls' of the cup in any-suitable manner; and so arranged that it'mayfol'd or collapse when the walls of the' cup are collapsed into flat form. i

Inthe accompanying d rawl ngs l" have shown one form of-I'ny improved collapsible paper cup, which; when fully distended, 11s

frusto co'nioal in'shapev Fig; 1 shows-the cup adapted to be collapsedin the manner deeornpletel y collapsed bottom seetion lndl'c'atedby dotted lines;- Fig. 2 represents a View Q looking, downward into the cup when the latteri's partially open; Fig; 3 ayertica-l septijonof the fully distendedcup thesection being" v on theline, 3+3 of .Fig 4 l -ig, 4 i a: t an ver e e a ecti n oi, he we fully; distended, the section being on the-line of- Fig. 3';:. Fig.;5 isa' plan viewofthe nk f f 'rming h tw s. trifle we. th bottom section being; located; thereon prior ng e er th iend if-the; w bl l .F gs a p w of the; bl nk cfotth :bd r tom with foldlines indicated dottedlines;

iF e-if. ,v

llyi d 1. v i e er inste e wing a t W llbe en that i y: imprev d up somp is sa; l n s, ad pt o:f rm e a s of. the up, the Wal blank in the present casebeing-"so shaped that when distended it will; form? is a view of th'ebottom'blanl; par- Q1111: Thea b a k 1 m nsit bb ypo v tion of thecupmay be made of suitable ri t:; s pr rab y;

blanked; out of paper of sufiiclent weight and "thickness to aifiusto-eonical give-the necessary body and stability;to';the

close pressed material so astobe'capablof resistingmoisture for aglimite'd I period of time; v The cup blank 1 isad apted to be folded upon itselffalongthedotted lines 2 and 3 of Fig. 5-. The ends of theblanlg in'oompleti-ng-ithecup are adapted toyoverlap and may bej'seeu-red together by anyisuitable; cement,- the amount of overlap covered withlcecup and bewater proofed or -atleast of m e e ng-ind ca d.- e31 e 11 1 e- .The bottom 5 is preferably-formed from a- :blank of thin flexible orjpliable'paper', cloth or othef'r suitable impervious material; and may be folded in any suitable manner toQproyid eta foldab'le bottom for the; cup. The flexible bottom may be collaps dinto; fla-t form at the time it is secured to the walls of the lcuplbr secured thereto j and folded or flattened flatteningthewalls; In the present instance. theblank for 'the bottom is preferably shaped substantially as shown in Fig.16 0fthedrawin'gs, and adapted to be folded on -th e lines, Lengthwise the bottomblankiis folded with what I term a saddle-fold alongfth e The upwardly jointtig'ht. when the cup isflat, has infolded'triangular 9 and tabs ll'may then able cement, *(indicated by stippling'in Fig.

'. The folded bottom u on the'wall blank 1, and 3 and attached thereto, at-8 extending along the'folding' lines 2 and line 6, (see Fig. 7 the edges of the blank being folded upward along the lines 7, thus forming an inverted fold at 8, at each end of the downward fold on the line 6, substantially as indicated in Figs. 5 and 7 of the drawings. folded edges of the blank form flanges 9, extending angularly with respect to the saddle fold and, as indicatedin Figs.

"1 and ,the points of intersection of the flanges on eachside of the folded up against the flanges 9 along the lines 10, thereby forming triangular tabs 11 which may be cemented to the folds of the flanges 9, if desired or found necessary,'to make the T herefore,a saddle fold bottom,

portions which, when the cup is opened, form joining the end walls to \Vhen the flexiblebottom section is folded as described, itwill be thin and-flat and, as

shown in Fig, 5 of the drawings, the flanges be covered with suitblank is then. laid the reverse folds With the folded bottom laid upon and attached to the wall blank, as shown in Fig.5, andthe exposed flanges 9 and tab 11 covered 7 'with cement, the ends of the blank 1 may be folded-"over the bottom section" and secured thereto, and the overlapping ends of the blank 1 may be secured together by cement on'the portion 4, as indicated in Fig. 5 of the "drawings. The cup is thus completed in fflatt enedform and will have substantially the crossesection from top isshown in Fig. 2with the top partially open,

shape and appearance shown in 1 of the drawings.

It has been found in practice that after the ,cup i s completed in the flat, it can be readily opened by 'pressm'g on the edges of the flat cup at thep'oints' 8. The compression along :the saddle fold will besuch as to force the flat walls of the cup ou which when fully distended, will 'be'frustoward, and open the cup,

conical in shape and substantially circular in to bottom. The cup disclosing the bottom section before it is com- -pletely distended, When the cup is fully opened and filled with liquid, the pressure of "the liquid will naturallyjtend to cause the cup to assume a substantially circularcross section. The bottom being flexible, it will offer to the pressure of the Therefore, in my improved cup, it will be seen that the flexible saddle fold are between the lines 2 described, and

' dinary,

and placed bottom blank 5 is longer in one direction than in the other and is provided with the saddle fold in the long direction. The folds of the bottom are so arranged that when distended, the bottom would normally be square, as indicated by the dotted lines 10 intersected by the lines 12 at right angles thereto, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, but when filled with liquid the flexible bottom will tend to assume the round form, limited by the heavier cup walls. It will be readily understood the long saddle fold "allows the bottom to extend lat erally when the walls of the cup are flattened,

be inserted and attached to thewalls of thecup in'any suitable manner, but since such cups are intended to be sold and shipped flat, it is preferable to manufacture them in that way. Informing the bottom section,'the 'various 'linesof fold maybe impressed-thereon by scoring with a suitable die, if it'is found desirable to do so, but this'is not necessary, for

I have found in practice that the-bottom can be readily folded and the cup assembled as the edges thereof,the cup will readily open. When so 0 ened, the cup will set on its own bottom an present the appearance of an or round frusto conical paper cup."

My improved collapsible cup is so designed that it may be readily manufactured by special automatic machinery, and this 'is facilitated by the readiness with which the cup can be-assembled in flat form. In turing, the blanks for'forming the frustoconical walls of the cup are cut or punched singly on a folding plate or table. Thebottom blanks are punched from suitable material and, by means of suitable folding mechanism, are folded into thin flattened being equal to the between the inverted when the flat cup is pressed on" manufacform, ready for assembly with the wall blank.

The over-turned flanges 9 and tab 11 are then covered with paste, glue'or a suitablewater proof cement and the the wall blank 1, in the position shownin Fig. 5 of the drawings.

folded bottom laid on wall blank 's covered with cement and the '11s "The edge l of the blank 1 is then" folded along the lines Q'and '3 to enclose the bottom section, the whole being pressed together, thus completingthe cup 'in flattened form.

While I' have shown a cup which, when fully distended, will be'frusto-conical, it will be understood that the angle of the walls may be varied so that the cup may be of any desired shape from widely flaring to substantially cylindrical: It will also be understood that I have shown only, what is not considered, the preferred formor method for folding the bottom section, but obviously, the

bottom section may be folded in various other ways to obtain the desired surplus material required to permit the fiat folding of the cup, and also to permit the completion of the cup in its flattened form.

It is believed that my improved cup with an attached flexible bottom, which permits the cup to be collapsed or folded into flat form is particularly novel, and, therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the specific form shown and described nor to any particular method of making the cup, for it will be understood that various modifications may be made in the shape and dimensions of the elements for forming the cup, and particularly in the shape and folding of the bottom section and the method of attaching the same and Various other modifications in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit'and scope of the invention.

I claim 1. In a cup of the character described, the combination of a collapsible blank forming the walls of the cup having but two diametrically opposite fold lines, and a separate blank to the inside of a wall blank, then folding said wall blank over and securing the same to the other side of said bottom, and simultaneously securing the ends of the wall blank together to thereby complete the cup in collapsed form.

6. The method of forming a collapsible paper cup, which comprises forming a fiat folded collapsed saddle foldbottom by suitably folding a blank of flexible material, securing one side of said folded collapsed bottom on a blank which when folded is adapted to form a single thickness flat wall on each side of said bottom, folding the last named blank over the collapsed bottom and securing the same to the other side of said bottom and the ends of said blank together, thereby forming a collapsed flat cup capable of being distended by pressure on the fold edges.

MARQUIS H. LOGKWOOD.

secured thereto forming the bottom of said 7 cup and provided with fold lines for a saddle fold, the bottom and wall blanks being adapted to fold .on their respective fold lines so that the cup may be collapsed into flat form, with the bottom in a saddle fold between single thickness fiat walls of said wall blank.

2. In a cup of the character described, the combination of a blank folded with a saddle fold to form the collapsed bottom of the cup,

a blank having its ends secured together and folded in single folds at the ends of said saddle fold to form the collapsed walls of said cup, and means for securing said blanks together in water tight relation.

3. A collapsible cup of the character described, comprising a blank of material adapted to form the walls of the cup, the ends of said blank being folded by opposite single folds into overlapping relation and secured together to form single thickness walls of the cup in flat form, and a bottom folded in a collapsed saddle fold inserted between and secured to said walls, said cup being distended or opened by pressure on the opposite fold edges of said walls.

4. The method of forming a collapsible paper cup, which comprises folding a blank to form a fiat collapsed saddle fold bottom, then securing one side of said flat folded bottom to the inside of a wall blank, then folding said wall blank over said bottom and securing the same to the other side of said bottom to form single thickness fiat walls on each side of the latter, said flat walls forming the walls of the cup when distended.

5. The method of forming a collapsible paper cup, which comprises folding a blank to form a flat collapsed saddle fold bottom,

* securing one side of said flat folded bottom 

